Giorgetto Giugiaro Resigns; Audi Gets Remaining Stake Of The Company

Italian car design legend Giorgetto Giugiaro has stepped down from the design and engineering firm he founded in 1968. Giugiaro, 76, recently sold his remaining 9.9-percent stake in Italdesign Giugiaro to the Volkswagen Group’s Audi. Giugiaro sold the other 90.1 percent of stake to Audi via Lamborghini in 2010. The deal makes Italdesign Giugiaro a fully integrated subsidiary of the Volkswagen AG.

A statement from Italdesign Giugiaro says Giugiaro resigned from his position of honorary chairman “...to dedicate more time to his passions and personal interests.” The shares were co-owned with his son Fabrizio, 50, who is also leaving the company.

“The Company’s growth is and will be constant,” the statement continued. “Some 50 new hires are planned within the end of the current year. Since 2010, some 200 new employers joined the Company. Giugiaro’s decision to leave Italdesign, will neither affect the activities, nor the Company’s growth process.”

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Why it matters

With a career spanning 60 years, I would say he’s earned a break. Giorgetto Giugiaro started designing cars for Fiat when he was just 17, and later for Bertone and Ghia before setting out on his own.

With over 200 cars to his name, Giugiaro worked with just about every car company you can think of and a few you probably can’t.

His earlier work, including the Alfa Romeo 2600 and Giulia Sprint GT, featured more curved, organic, traditionally Italian lines, but as time wore on he began to develop his signature design language of flat surfaces and sharp creases.